For 17 years, Fitchburg State has been a cultural resource for the region, bringing national and international performers to the stage, celebrated authors for readings and lectures and talented artists to its galleries.

All of these disciplines will merge this fall, when the CenterStage at Fitchburg State University arts and culture series will present a multimedia exploration of the ideas and issues behind Ray Bradbury's celebrated dystopian novel "Fahrenheit 451" on the 60th anniversary of its publication.

Film screenings, live performances, art exhibitions, panel discussions and a communitywide read-aloud of the novel will form the spine of this unique partnership between Fitchburg State and the city of Fitchburg's historic and cultural institutions.

The university launched its cultural series in 1996 under the direction of Mary Chapin Durling, the cultural affairs director who continues to develop its programming guided by the principle that CenterStage is Fitchburg State University's front door for the community.

"It is thrilling to bring national artists as well as cutting-edge, emerging artists to our stage and to the community," Durling said. "That part of my work is exhilarating. My heart and passion lie in the community aspects of CenterStage's mission and vision -- when I can bring an artist and have that artist authentically connect with the community, or expand a single performance into a monthlong, multifaceted project as we are doing with 'Fahrenheit 451.

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Legendary performing artists such as Judy Collins, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and James "Superharp" Cotton are among the musicians who have performed on the university's stages. The Alvin Ailey dance troupe and the lauded Irish theater company Gare St. Lazare Players have also moved audiences, among many, many others.

The power of the arts to inspire and provoke thought will be on full display with the "Fahrenheit 451" project. In his novel, Bradbury created an imaginary world that would come to pass in our daily lives today. From the technology of flat screen monitors, interactive devices and ear buds to the blurry line between censorship and apathy, Bradbury's work was stunningly prescient.

The monthlong "Fahrenheit 451" project begins with a marathon read-aloud of the novel on Saturday, Sept. 14, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Fitchburg Public Library.

There will be screenings of Francois Truffaut's adaptation of the novel on Tuesday, Sept. 17, at 3:30 p.m. on the university campus and Thursday, Sept. 19, at 7 p.m. at the public library, to be followed by conversations about the film and the topics it explores.

The acclaimed Aquila Theatre company of New York will perform Bradbury's own stage adaptation of his novel on Tuesday, Sept. 24, at 7 p.m. at Weston Auditorium. Using multimedia, the nationally renowned company ignites Bradbury's world where firemen burn books and refugees secretly memorize them. All the while, we are invited to examine that world and our own. The performance is sponsored by Fitchburg Federal/Webster First Federal Credit Union with additional support from the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities, the New England Foundation for the Arts and the Amelia Gallucci-Cirio Endowment at Fitchburg State.

The series will also include presentations about burned books and banned books with Fitchburg State faculty members at the Fitchburg Historical Society, as well as workshops on altered books at Rollstone Studios and the Fitchburg Art Museum. The three sites will also host a progressive art exhibition on Saturday, Oct. 19. A full schedule of events relative to the "Fahrenheit 451" project will be found online at fitchburgstate.edu/cultural.

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